What does all of the aforementioned information reveal about the affluent self-made customer? For one, they are pretty much the same, regardless of age or gender. All are strong personality types, who have struggled and worked hard for everything they have achieved. Extreme independence sums up their psychological profile. They do not believe in luck, and the words “cannot” and “no” are not in their vocabulary. Whereas when a seller of luxury goods or services says “yes” to them, regarding a request, they keep coming back, because they like and approve of the sellers “can do” attitude. It reminds them of themselves. Image courtesy parfumo.net

The affluent self-made like doing business with people who have common sense, specialized knowledge, self-confidence, creativity, leadership ability, and who are self-reliant and get things done. And because they are self-made, they look for value. This means they will negotiate over price, and like to think they’re getting a good deal.

The psychological factor to remember when marketing to the self-made affluent customer is this: they need to “feel right” about a luxury purchase. If they “feel right” about it, they will part with their hard-earned money. “Feeling right” about a luxury purchase involves a concept called “sensation transference.” Defined by a man named Louis Cheskin, sensation transference is when a customer unconsciously transfers his perception of the way a product is packaged over to the actual product. To put it another way, most customers do not distinguish the package from the product. To most customers, the two concepts – the packaging and the product – are one and the same. Which explains the old adage, “Packaging is everything.”